What are the worst gadgets you've ever owned?

Some gadgets are bad. Those that are bad also usually happen to be cheap. But what do you do when gadgets touted to be the next big thing turn out to be crap as well? You are angry, frustrated.

That mismatch between manufacturer’s promises and/or the hype around devices on one hand, and the actual device on the other is the most infuriating one.

And if you happen to have only fully realized your mistake after the return period for such a device has passed, you are left with nothing to do but feel sorry. Not anymore - here is a place to pour all your gadget anger. Share it with us - what are the worst gadgets you have ever owned? Devices that were supposed the killer of you-know-what, but killed more of your nerves than anything else.

We could not resist the urge and have got 10 suggestions of our own. You may disagree. You may also re-order them. You may have only held them for a while (let us know you have not owned them, though!). In either case, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The BlackBerry Storm was supposed to be the iPhone killer from BlackBerry. Well, should we say it was an epic fail? It was for a number of reasons of which we’ll only mention a resistive touch screen and no Wi-Fi connectivity. And if you want to feel like you are living in a parallel universe you can go back in time and look up articles theorizing on why it will kill the iPhone.

BlackBerry Storm

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The Kin is probably the most obvious example of a failed phone. It was so terrible Microsoft actually pulled it. Recently, we got to know that internal testing agreed unanimously that this phone is horrific. Still, Microsoft released. Why? We’ll never know.

Microsoft Kin

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Ever wondered where it all started slipping for Nokia? If you say Nokia N97 you’d be spot on. After the impressive, very strong Nokia N95, the N97 was a bulky device that came with a record 32GB storage and a large screen. That sounds good, but Symbian just was not ready and froze, and froze on this device. Well, at least with its weight and size, now you can use the N97 as a brick and example of how not to do a flagship.

Nokia N97

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Speaking of bricks, the Dell Streak, a 5-inch tablet (ah, the irony! now that would be just a normal phone), was a huge misunderstanding. It was so bulky you’d never want to consider using it as a phone. It looks like ancient history now, but it was release merely two years ago in 2010.

Dell Streak

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Before the iPhone, there was the Motorola ROKR. The original Apple phone. It did not have a touchscreen. It did not have iOS. Actually, it was such a typical, underwhelming phone it never took off.

Motorola ROKR

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If you really get nostalgic and look into the past, you’d encounter the Nokia N-Gage. For its time, it seemed to have potential. It was all about advanced games (for the time). On a mobile phone. Mind-boggling. It cost a fortune, though. And it required you to shut the device down to change a game cartridge (an MMC card).

Nokia N-Gage

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You know what, the BlackBerry PlayBook isn’t downright terrible. It’s a $170 tablet after all. But do you remember how much did RIM ask for it at launch? $500. Yes, that total mismatch between price and functionality is what justifies its place right here. Oh, and the lack of email and calendar on a $500 tablet for almost a year.

BlackBerry PlayBook

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The Kyocera Echo is a weird phone. It opens like a clamshell phone (only the hinge is on the side, not on top), and you end up with two touch screens. But when closed this thing is heavy. The Echo launched exclusively on Sprint and the only good thing about it seems to be that it did not launch on other carriers.

Kyocera Echo

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When asked what was the worst gadgets he’s owned, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said without thinking: “the HTC ThunderBolt.” And while it might have been the first device with LTE on board, it had horrific battery life and was brick-like bulky. And stuttery at times. And you just can’t disagree with Woz, after all.

HTC ThunderBolt

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Jon Rubinstein is one of the engineers we have most respect to. He built the Palm team, and managed to get through some tough times, and deliver promising devices. They did not do well, but some of the ideas were quite brilliant. Not the HP Veer. Rubinstein believed there was space for a tiny cell phone, one that doesn’t bulge out your pockets. Well, 2.6 inches was a bit too small to ever take off. The Veer launched just before the Pre 3 had to, and ironically the Pre 3 was killed before its arrival.

The BlackBerry Storm was supposed to be the iPhone killer from BlackBerry. Well, should we say it was an epic fail? It was for a number of reasons of which we’ll only mention a resistive touch screen and no Wi-Fi connectivity. And if you want to feel like you are living in a parallel universe you can go back in time and look up articles theorizing on why it will kill the iPhone.

What are the worst gadgets you have ever owned?

1. BlackBerry Storm

The BlackBerry Storm was supposed to be the iPhone killer from BlackBerry. Well, should we say it was an epic fail? It was for a number of reasons of which we’ll only mention a resistive touch screen and no Wi-Fi connectivity. And if you want to feel like you are living in a parallel universe you can go back in time and look up articles theorizing on why it will kill the iPhone.

2. Microsoft Kin

The Kin is probably the most obvious example of a failed phone. It was so terrible Microsoft actually pulled it. Recently, we got to know that internal testing agreed unanimously that this phone is horrific. Still, Microsoft released. Why? We’ll never know.

3. Nokia N97

Ever wondered where it all started slipping for Nokia? If you say Nokia N97 you’d be spot on. After the impressive, very strong Nokia N95, the N97 was a bulky device that came with a record 32GB storage and a large screen. That sounds good, but Symbian just was not ready and froze, and froze on this device. Well, at least with its weight and size, now you can use the N97 as a brick and example of how not to do a flagship.

4. Dell Streak

Speaking of bricks, the Dell Streak, a 5-inch tablet (ah, the irony! now that would be just a normal phone), was a huge misunderstanding. It was so bulky you’d never want to consider using it as a phone. It looks like ancient history now, but it was release merely two years ago in 2010.

5. Motorola ROKR

Before the iPhone, there was the Motorola ROKR. The original Apple phone. It did not have a touchscreen. It did not have iOS. Actually, it was such a typical, underwhelming phone it never took off.

6. Nokia N-Gage

If you really get nostalgic and look into the past, you’d encounter the Nokia N-Gage. For its time, it seemed to have potential. It was all about advanced games (for the time). On a mobile phone. Mind-boggling. It cost a fortune, though. And it required you to shut the device down to change a game cartridge (an MMC card).

7. BlackBerry PlayBook

You know what, the BlackBerry PlayBook isn’t downright terrible. It’s a $170 tablet after all. But do you remember how much did RIM ask for it at launch? $500. Yes, that total mismatch between price and functionality is what justifies its place right here. Oh, and the lack of email and calendar on a $500 tablet for almost a year.

8. Kyocera Echo

The Kyocera Echo is a weird phone. It opens like a clamshell phone (only the hinge is on the side, not on top), and you end up with two touch screens. But when closed this thing is heavy. The Echo launched exclusively on Sprint and the only good thing about it seems to be that it did not launch on other carriers.

9. HTC ThunderBolt

When asked what was the worst gadgets he’s owned, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said without thinking: “the HTC ThunderBolt.” And while it might have been the first device with LTE on board, it had horrific battery life and was brick-like bulky. And stuttery at times. And you just can’t disagree with Woz, after all.

10. HP Veer

Jon Rubinstein is one of the engineers we have most respect to. He built the Palm team, and managed to get through some tough times, and deliver promising devices. They did not do well, but some of the ideas were quite brilliant. Not the HP Veer. Rubinstein believed there was space for a tiny cell phone, one that doesn’t bulge out your pockets. Well, 2.6 inches was a bit too small to ever take off. The Veer launched just before the Pre 3 had to, and ironically the Pre 3 was killed before its arrival.

146.metalpoet (unregistered)

LG Chocolate(4 in 1 year 10 months)
DROID 2(30 days before battery completely stopped working)
DROID X(2 in 6 months)
DROID 3(3 in 11 months)
&
LG Envy 2(5 in 1 year 4 months before they gave me a LG Dare for free when the phone had only been out one month :) )

6.thelegend6657 (unregistered)

Nokia N97 (Overpriced junk flagship by nokia )
LG Viewty ( Only the Camera is decent , everything else is terrible )
Samsung Corby 2 ( My father got it for free , so he gave it to me , seriously for a little tiny bit more one can upgrade to Xperia X8 or Galaxy Y . Laggy , touchscreen unresponsive and unaccurate , UI ugly , terrible screen and camera , little apps , screen that likes to unlock itself . If you want a feature phone at that price , nokia is still the king )

17.thelegend6657 (unregistered)

Usually stuff that force close are native apps like Nokia Maps or the Browser .
Its annoying using the GPS halfway someone calls then it FC . Or surfing website halfway stating memory is full while i only have the browser running then after 7 seconds the message appears the browser force close . Very very annoying

u can throw almost every symbian in there?!!! r u a troll or just some ignorant???????! one symbian device in this list doesn't make every symbian phone bad.
3650,6600,6630,6680,n70,n90,n93,n73,n91,n95,n8,808​,c7 and lots of others were all great devices, made history and sold in 100s of millions. respect things when respect is due

N8 is definately high up the list of Symbian fails, underpowered and frequently overheated and OS prone to regular lockups, I had mine replaced three times in as many months and then sold it on ebay, went back to my trusy N72 -- very poorly featured compared to any current model and with a very ordinary UI, but it's still going. Allegedly the N9 was many times better than the N8, but I gave it a miss when offered. would never buy a Symbian product again, and though Nokia has wisely switched to WP8, I don't think their hardware is anywhere near as solid is was in their 2000s peak.

134.thelegend6657 (unregistered)

If you think thats bad , i will tell you the full story of my N97

Key lock slider broken
problems charging
buggy software (Nokia only updated the phone once and its still buggy )
Music app that doesnt work ( i have to go to the file manager to listen to music )
If you use the flash light on a photo the photo is instantly ruin ! (Left half of it you will only see white )
Cheap plastic build quality
No mulititouch
Terrible speaker sound quality and earpiece is a little soft . ( The cheaper 5800 sounds a lot better if watching video or listening music ! )
Overpriced , higher initial selling price than the N8
Camera lens cover that SCRATCHES the lens
Sometime when someone calls the phone just freeze , cant answer it , cant decline it , cant do s**t (5800 dont have this problem because nokia updates it regularly )
But N9 is meego device and meego is alot better than symbian . Smooth , beautiful and fast

Are we talking just gadgets that didn't sell well, or bad gadgets? It seems PA is just looking at gadgets that didn't make a splash in the market but that doesn't necessarily mean they were bad gadgets.

Not sure if poster #1 is merely trolling or not... but yes, as a gadget the first iPhone (which is how I took the comment) was actually a pretty crappy gadget, however, it was aesthetically pleasing and well-marketed as an exclusive device which lead to a great sales blockbuster.

So, I ask again for the clarification, are we talking bad gadgets here, or just bad sellers?

I'm thinking they need to clarify as well. Being that I'm typing this out on a BlackBerry PlayBook, it was no where near a horrible device, it just serves a different purpose. When launched, I agree the price was too high, but it was designed an accessory to a BlackBerry smartphone. Email, calendar, memos, etc, worked great over bridge.

IMO it was very innovative and forward thinking idea. The real problem was that, by the time RIM launched the PlayBook, they had a huge perception problem. People wanted to make to make fun of them. If everything wasn't done exactly like Apple, it was horrible.

Motorola Droid Bionic is by far the worst. I am still having problems with it after the latest OS update. I have gone through 5 of them now with problems ranging from power cycling to dropping data connection for no reason! My newest one seems to like to drain the battery 4 hours into the day.

The LG GT540 Optimus, the first Optimus phone.
3" 320x480 resistive single touch screen, 600Mhz processor (the only thing on this phone that doesn't suck d**k), Android 1.6 with an update to 2.1 which absolutely rapes the battery and it's impossible to go back to 1.6.

Glaxy s3 the international version wasn't the very best choice after an iPhone4, i though that would be a good move but, S3 laggs not anything closer to smooth and ram always nearly full.
Finally i sold it with almost 3/4 the price after 2months thx to the 100$ price cut that samsung did worldwide those f**kers.
I got myself Note2 which is way better performer and much smoother but i cant find to much apps and games to play on that huge screen that i like, samsung please respect us and before u release a device adjust games and apps to work on it

I can't say any phone I had was bad.
After all they are all still functional, to my knowledge .. even my very first Kenwood from 2003.
The Sony Ericsson vivaz had a bad symbian interface that I couldn't see my self using really, but SPB shell fixed that to an enough degree,

I'm not sure if it counts as it was never seen as a "killer" device, but the Samsung Transform on sprint was the worst device I've ever had! It was a mid range android 2.1 slider. I know that might make it seem like I'm too critical, but it basically did nothing. Went through almost full year with it (bad choice), probably with 4 different replacements in that time. Its battery life was laughably bad, and it would freeze all the time. What's worse is that it had like over 600 1 star ratings on Sprint's website, yet for some reason they sold it forever and brought the name back in the Samsung Transform Ultra which you can still buy. Sorry, rant over.

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